Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren thinks MSNBC’s liberal host Rachel Maddow would be a fine fit to replace Brian Williams as anchor of NBC’s “Nightly News.”
“How about a woman?” wrote Van Susteren on her Gretawire blog Wednesday. “My suggestion: Rachel Maddow. Whether you agree with her or not, she will stir things up and provoke a debate. She is also the right price — she is already on the payroll!”
Van Susteren’s suggestion comes in light of news that Brian Williams has been suspended for six months as anchor and managing editor of NBC’s “Nightly News.”
Van Susteren wrote that NBC News should experiment with its newscast format, perhaps mirroring cable news where commentary and debate take precedence.
“Instead of the current (and dated) model of having an anchor just read the news … why not morph towards the cable model and have both a presentation of news in the hour and a strong debate?” she wrote. “Debate gets you thinking.”
Van Susteren added, “My suggestion for a troubled news organization (yes, NBC) — and I know this will rattle the old timers who have a fixated view about what journalism is: Do something bold for 6 months and experiment. Put one of your strong and determined debaters on to host the nightly broadcast news, the new format, the 2015 one.”
NBC News announced Tuesday that it would suspend Williams for six months without pay, after he confessed to claiming falsely that he had been aboard a U.S. military aircraft downed by enemy fire in Iraq. Williams had repeated the story in varying detail since 2003 until an Iraq veteran recently confronted Williams in a Facebook message. “Sorry dude, I don’t remember you being on my aircraft,” the veteran said to Williams.
Williams backtracked, acknowledging that he was actually aboard a different aircraft that did not come under attack.
While Williams is out, Lester Holt, who anchors “Nightly News” on weekends, will fill in.
